Living Rent Govanhill Demand Action on Street Lighting

The Govanhill branch of Scotland’s tenants’ union, Living Rent have demanded that Glasgow City Council provide a timeline to fix the 48 broken street lights in the neighbourhood.

Members of Living Rent in Govanhill have taken action outside the offices of Glasgow City Council to demand urgent repairs of broken streetlights.

They marched to the City Chambers to request a meeting with George Gillepsie, Executive Director of Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability at Glasgow City Council, asking for a timeline for the lights to be fixed.

Living Rent launched a campaign in November 2022 to address this issue, counting 48 broken lights in the area. Although 18 lights were fixed after launching their campaign, 29 remained broken, and an additional 18 have been found to be broken, meaning 48 still require repair.

Living Rent Govanhill is now demanding that all broken streetlights in the area be fixed by 1 September 2023, and that long-term investment is made into the upkeep and maintenance of street lights in the Govanhill area.

As we have previously reported, Govanhill residents already face challenges such as fly-tipping in the area, especially during winter, when navigating the area safely is difficult.

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Matthew Johnstone, Member Defence Officer for the Govanhill branch, said:  “I'm taking part in this action because our members, including myself, have reported the broken street lights to the council on more than one occasion - and the issue still hasn't been addressed. 

“This action ensures that we can speak to whoever's in charge and leave here with some sort of commitment from the council.

“It's been proven in multiple studies that adequate street lighting reduces crime. I am here because my neighbours deserve to feel safe in their area. Everyone I have spoken with about this campaign has ardently backed the petition. Govanhill deserves better.”

In response to the demands from Living Rent, a spokesman for the council said: “Street lighting in Govanhill has been the subject of recent improvement works with £500,000 invested in installing 140 new lighting columns.

“Govanhill also receives regular maintenance on older lighting columns and repairs are on-going in the area.

“Repairs are prioritised on a risk assessed basis and for priority issues, such as larger sections of faulty lamps or lamps that are causing a danger to the public, we will aim to have them repaired within 24 hours.”

“We undertake regular checks on the city’s infrastructure, but reports from the public have a vital role in directing our efforts to where faults emerge across the city’s 74,000 lighting columns.

“If a faulty street lamp is identified then the quickest way for the issue to be dealt with is to report the incident via our website, through the MyGlasgow phone app or by calling the RALF hotline as soon as the fault is identified.”